Waterways Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many individual members of staff of Waterways Ireland have complained to either sponsoring departments about (a) alleged bullying; (b) alleged harassment; and (c) other management problems, since the creation of the implementation body.

Baroness Amos: Twenty-one staff, in two separate representations to the sponsor departments, have complained about (a) alleged bullying, (b) alleged harassment and (c) other management problems at Waterways Ireland.

Waterways Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the report into the complaints of bullying of staff in Waterways Ireland has been completed; and, if it has not been completed, when the report is expected.

Baroness Amos: I can confirm that the report has been completed.

Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has decided to reduce over the next three years the annual budget of the Northern Ireland Events Company.

Baroness Amos: No final decision has been made. The proposals set out in the Draft Priorities and Budget 2005–08 are currently the subject of consultation.

Road Safety

Viscount Simon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What progress has been made towards fulfilling the European Commission Recommendation on Enforcement in the Field of Road Safety (2004/245/EC).

Lord Davies of Oldham: The recommendation was adopted by the European Commission on 21 October 2003. Since then the UK has participated in an expert group on enforcement in June this year and a meeting of a sub-group on seat belts. Further sub-group meetings on speeding and drink-driving are planned. The aim of these groups is to identify common ground, encourage collaboration between member states and to establish good practice in road traffic enforcement.
	Road traffic enforcement was discussed recently at an informal meeting of EU road safety Ministers in Verona (October 2004), which was attended by the Minister for Road Safety (David Jamieson). The meeting underlined the importance of enforcement for road safety and the conclusions are due to be considered at a forthcoming meeting of the Transport Council.

Nobel Peace Prize: Llangollen International Eisteddfod Nomination

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will support the nomination of the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Lord Evans of Temple Guiting: The Norwegian Nobel Committee asks that those submitting nominations should not publish their proposals. It would, therefore, not be appropriate for the Government to express a view on any individual nomination.
	I am, though, pleased to have this opportunity of acknowledging the valuable work done by the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, over more than half a century, in fostering world-wide cultural links through a shared love of music.

VAT: Cultural Organisations

Lord Smith of Leigh: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why charitable cultural organisations are now required to change established governance arrangements to retain their exemption from VAT.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The VAT exemption for cultural services applies to those bodies which are "managed and administered on an essentially voluntary basis by persons who have no direct or indirect financial interest in its activities". Following the 2002 judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the case of the Zoological Society of London, VAT exemption now applies to an increased number of cultural organisations. Any organisation that was previously eligible for the exemption remains eligible as a result of the ECJ's decision without changing its governance arrangements.

Money Laundering

Lord Goodhart: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will take into account the criticisms made by the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners of the draft European Union Directive (No. 14149/04) on the prevention of the use of the financial systems for the purpose of money laundering when negotiating the terms of the directive.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government have been working with several UK private sector stakeholders to ensure that the Third Money Laundering Directive is clear and workable. The Government are currently considering STEP's concerns and will continue to engage with STEP as part of its wider consultation with key stakeholders to inform negotiations on the directive at EU level.

Department for Work and Pensions: Customer Conversion Centre

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Chris Pond, on 18 October (HC Deb, 478W), whether the temporary, dedicated customer conversion centre is located in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: Yes. The premises and operating activities of the customer conversion centre are wholly based in the United Kingdom.

Human Rights Instruments

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Ashton of Upholland on 16 September (WA 201), whether they will publish their evaluation of the case law of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and of the experience of states which have accepted the First Optional Protocol, which led to the conclusions set out at Appendix 5 of their review of international human rights instruments.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The Government's conclusions in relation to rights of individual petition are set out in Appendix 5 to the report on the review on international human rights instruments which the Government published on 22 July 2004. The Government do not intend to publish the international advice and analysis which were considered by the Ministers during the review.

Referendum Campaigning: Ministerial Involvement

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether it is the case that no material relating to any referendum can legally be published by Ministers, government departments or local authorities during the 28 days before polling day and whether publication includes speeches, press interviews and press statements.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: Section 125 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) governs the material that can be published by Ministers, government departments or local authorities in the 28 days before a referendum.
	Material is described as "published" if it is made available to the public at large, or to any section of the public, in whatever form and by whatever means. Section 125 prohibits, among others, Ministers (in their official capacity) and their departments making available to the public at large, or any section of the public, any material which provides general information about the referendum; deals with any of the issues raised by the referendum question; puts any arguments for or against any particular answer to the referendum question; or is designed to encourage voting at the referendum. It is our view that this includes speeches and press interviews when carried out in a ministerial capacity, but that it does not prevent Ministers speaking in a personal or political capacity.
	Section 125(3) of PPERA contains certain exceptions to the general restrictions, which cover material made available to persons in response to specific requests for information or to persons specifically seeking access to it; anything done by or on behalf of the Electoral Commission or a designated organisation; the publication of information relating to the holding of the poll; or the issue of press notices.
	By virtue of the Bill of Rights, Section 125, does not restrict Ministers as to what they can say during proceedings in Parliament.

Referendum Campaigning: Ministerial Involvement

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which body or bodies are responsible for enforcing the rules relating to ministerial involvement in referendum campaigns during the 28 days before polling day; and what sanctions or penalties can be applied if the rules are breached.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: Section 125 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 establishes the rules relating to ministerial involvement in referendum campaigns. It is the responsibility of those to whom Section 125 applies to ensure that they comply with the requirements of that provision. A person alleging a breach of Section 125 could seek to bring a judicial review. It would be for the courts to decide the consequences of a breach according to the circumstances of the challenge.

Referendum Campaigning: Ministerial Involvement

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the rules relating to ministerial involvement in campaigning during the 28 days before polling day will apply in any referendum on the European Union Constitution or other future referendums.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The rules relating to Ministerial involvement in campaigning during the 28 days before polling day apply to any referendum held under the generic legislation, the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA). Section 125 of this Act regulates the activities of Ministers in the 28 days before polling day. It is proposed that a referendum on the European Union Constitution would be held under the terms of PPERA, including Section 125. The same rules will apply to other future referendums held under PPERA.

Referendum Campaigning: Ministerial Involvement

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether it is the case that Ministers are permitted to speak and take part in referendum campaigning so long as they make it clear that they are doing so in a personal capacity; and what measures were taken when Ministers took part in the recent referendum in the north-east to clarify that they were not taking part as a Minister of the Crown.

Lord Rooker: It is the view of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister that where Section 125 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 applies to a referendum, as in the north-east, the restrictions on publications in the final 28 days do not prevent Ministers speaking and taking part in referendum campaigning where they do so in a personal or political capacity. In addition, by virtue of the Bill of Rights, Section 125 does not restrict Ministers as to what they can say during proceedings in Parliament.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister issued guidance to all Ministers. The guidance has been made available in the Library of the House. In accordance with this guidance, Ministers made their role clear when acting or speaking in a personal or political capacity.

Building Regulations: Electrical Installations

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the implications of the Building (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1808) for professional electrical engineers, electricians and private householders undertaking their own work of electrical installation.

Lord Rooker: The regulations introduce requirements on electrical safety in dwellings as Part P of the building regulations. They will require that from 1 January 2005 electrical installations should meet the standards in BS7671. Meeting these standards will help reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by defective installations. Almost all those in the electrical engineering contracting industry already work to the standards in BS7671.
	The regulations allow private householders to continue to undertake their own work. Where they do so they will need to notify the local authority of work they plan to undertake; the local authority will then be responsible for inspecting and testing the work to ensure that it is safe. It will not be necessary for private householders to notify some minor less risky types of work.

NHS Continuing Care

Baroness Greengross: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many older people received National Health Service care in (a) their own homes and (b) in residential or nursing homes during the past two years; and at what cost; and
	What is their forecast of the number of older people who will be eligible for continuing National Health Service care in 2005; and what is the estimated cost.

Lord Warner: In 2002–03, the number of adults receiving fully funded National Health Service continuing care was 17,019. In 2003–04, the latest figure available, the number was 19,723. No further detail is held centrally and no forecasts of future eligibility are made centrally.

Smoking in Public Places

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What analysis of the costs to businesses they have undertaken regarding the proposed ban on smoking in enclosed public places detailed in the public health White Paper, Choosing Health; and what were the results.

Lord Warner: A partial regulatory impact assessment has been published, which gives initial estimates of the possible costs to businesses. A copy is available in the Library.

NHS: Software Contract

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether open source software solutions for public sector information technology projects, as endorsed by the Office of Government Commerce, were considered as an alternative to the recently announced nine-year contract with Microsoft for software for the National Health Service.

Lord Warner: The Department of Health fully supports the open source software initiative, and the National Programme for Information Technology has evaluated the suitability of a number of particular solutions for deployment in the National Health Service in England. However, these solutions were not considered sufficiently robust for front-line working across the NHS. An additional powerful consideration in favour of the Microsoft deal is that there is already an installed base of around 600,000 Microsoft-based computers in use in the NHS.

NHS: Software Contract

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What will be the licensing costs of the recently announced nine-year contract with Microsoft for software for the National Health Service contract; and how these would compare, had an open source solution been adopted.

Lord Warner: Details of the costs involved are subject to commercial confidentiality, but they compare favourably with any commercially-available open source solution, even without taking into account the cost that would be required to develop the open source products to the industrial strength required for front-line National Health Service use.

Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why reponsibility for combating binge drinking has been given to an alcohol industry lobby group.

Lord Warner: Responsibility for combating binge drinking has not been given to an alcohol industry lobby group. As tasked by the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England the Government are working with the drinks industry at a national level. The voluntary social responsibility scheme for drinks producers will strongly encourage drinks companies to: pledge not to manufacture products irresponsibly; ensure that advertising does not promote or condone irresponsible or excessive drinking; put the sensible drinking message clearly on bottles alongside information about unit content; move to packaging products in safer materials; and make a financial contribution to an independent fund that pays for new schemes to address alcohol misuse.
	At a local level, there will be new voluntary code of good practice scheme for retailers, pubs and clubs and off licences. This will be run in partnership with industry, police, and licensing panels, and led by the local authority. It will ensure that industry works alongside local communities on issues such as under-age drinking and making town centres safer and more welcoming at night.
	In addition, the White Paper Choosing Health published on 16 November 2004 highlighted that the Government will build on commitments within the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England.